Dilligas.com HomeMarch 3, 2003 - Apologies First off, I apologize for not having updated this in the last week. I've been struck by a very large apathetic streak, and I've been having enough trouble completing class-related assignments and other obligations, let alone updating this site. I hope to make up for it with a fairly long update tonight.
Let's start off with the site changes. Tonight, I:
Moving on to the fun stuff, this weekend, Patricia and I went to see a great production of Romeo and Juliet, put on by the ISU Theatre Department. It was a very interesting interpretation; the director focused far less on the overused theme of love and more on the underlying violence and conflict in the play. He also tried to modernize it a bit by portraying the two feuding families as being of different religions; the Montagues were Christian (evidenced by large crosses), and the Capulets were Muslim (shown by less visible tattoos). Most of the characters were portrayed as being very animal-like, very detestable creatures because of their involvement with the violence between the families. All in all, a very cynical, but enjoyable and different, interpretation of the play, and well worth seeing.
Also this weekend was KaleidoQuiz, a huge, twenty-six hour Trivia-And-More marathon put on by the student-run radio station in Friley Hall. Patricia's floor, being an Honors floor, was hardcore into this; pictures will be coming, but for now suffice it to say that they had fourteen computers in their den, with more in the hallway. At least six people were on the road at some point, searching for random scavenger-hunt items. People walked to Friley throughout the afternoon, evening, night, morning, and afternoon to drop things off, create collages, play video games, and who knows what else. It's quite a production, and Harwood ended up in second place after an exhaustive effort. I contributed a bit myself; at 1 Am I walked over to Friley with Patricia to play some video games and ended up getting almost 400 points for Harwood. A good time was had by all.
I really didn't do much productive this weekend, which led me to stay up until almost five tonight (this morning?) doing stuff. Part of that, of course, was that the material for the latest Daily project that launches tomorrow wasn't given to me until about 9:00 PM. But even aside from that, I had several other assignments to do that I had been procrastinating for awhile... Bad habit. Fortunately, this should be a relatively slow week, so I may be able to not get burned if I procrastinate stuff.
I hope everyone enjoys their week.
March 5, 2003 - Slow week, my ass So I thought this was going to be a slow week. Oh, how wrong I was.
Sunday night, I was up until 5 doing this project for the Daily. You will check it out, fall in love with it, and check back every single day, because this is consuming at least an hour out of my life every night until April.
Monday night, I knew that I'd better get my stuff done, so I did most of my required homework, etc. This turned out to be a life-saver.
Tuesday night, I was again up until after five, this time doing this project. Yet again, you will check it out and fall in love with it.
So today was a pretty crappy day, having gotten about three hours of sleep. Fortunately, tonight I'm looking at bed by 2 (at the latest), so that's at least 7 hours of sleep. ... It's sad when I'm actually excited to get a mere seven hours of sleep.
Paraphrasing Matt Dixon, "When you're a Daily employee, you talk about sleep like most people talk about sex."
On the plus side, we handily won our basketball game tonight. And I gave blood for our campus blood drive on Tuesday, which, despite taking three-and-a-half hours, still goes down as a 'good thing'.
Not sure about the rest of this week, but next week will be hell. Three tests, another frigging Daily project running Monday morning, and god knows what else.
Don't expect anything on the site for awhile. We're talking Spring Break or later here, people.
March 7, 2003 - Just this | Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. -- attributed to Julius Caesar |
Thanks, Matt.
March 9, 2003 - Weekend update, but not the good Saturday Night Live kind This weekend didn't turn out to be all too bad, though I haven't really started studying for any of my three tests this week. Yikes.
Went and had some very good pizza with the Harwoodians (Laura had a birthday) on Friday night, which was quite fun, despite me spilling a whole glass of Coke, complete with ice and everything, right into Patricia's lap. Fortunately, no permanent damage; one load of laundry and a shower later, she was fine.
Then I hosted a DDR party on Saturday night, which involved, again, mostly Harwoodians, plus some floormates and other friends. Good times there, but when has there ever been a bad time playing DDR? ... Which leaves, of course, today as my study day. So it goes.
Just to keep you all placated, I put up a neat picture I took on Friday. Enjoy.
Lastly, I don't know how I ever lived without a set of wireless headphones before. I love these things, and I really can't say enough good things about them. I'm rarely found with them off anymore. I would most definitely recommend them to anyone who listens to anything, ever.
I'll see if I can't update this later on this week.
March 11, 2003 - Oscillations Things seem to be going back and forth between Very Bad™ and Very Good™. I'm not really sure where I stand.
I do know for sure that this week has been and will continue to be very busy. I know that my Sociology test didn't go nearly as well as I would have liked it to today, and I'll be thrilled if I pull an 80 out of it. I know I have two labs, six classes, one test, and one meeting until spring break. It really needs to be 3:00 Friday afternoon, now.
I made a lot of progress tonight, though. Did a couple Electrical Engineering assignments, filled out my entire (ten-page!) official application for summering at Motorola, worked on my Independent Study, had a house meeting, Daily meeting, did some stuff on the Daily Challenge.... (Speaking of, be sure to check out the Big 12 Tournament site if you haven't; lots of new stuff there.) So I guess it was a productive night.
It's looking like I'll make it through the week, but damn is it going to be good to have a week to do nothing.
March 16, 2003 - Spring Break, baby! Well, ladies and gentlemen, Spring Break is officially here. You all know what that means: By the end of this week, my ass is going to be sore from having sat on it so much. Oh yeah, and no updates.
The day-and-a-half of Spring Break thus far almost makes up for the complete and total crappiness of the last two weeks. What a couple of days.
I wish everyone a good week; I know I'll have one.
March 25, 2003 - Conflicted Spring Break is over, and it was good to be home, if uneventful. I don't feel very rested, but that could be due to the ... turmoil in both the world at large and my own little life.
But that doesn't stop the terrible carnivorous machine that is Iowa State, oh no. It's already hitting me full force, though it's looking to get better once I get Wednesday's test out of the way. What's that you say? Didn't I have three tests the week before break? Yes. Yes, I did.
Similarly, I talked to an advisor this morning, and I have 8:00AM classes every day next semester. Sucks to be me... But I imagine I'll find a way to deal with it. Schedule should be up soon.
I wish the best to our troops over in the God-forsaken desert, and I wish the worst to Bush Jr.
PS - New section coming soon; it's all coded and set to go, I just need to do some serious data entry.
March 27, 2003 - Mandatory every-other-day update There hasn't been much new here recently, except getting back those hellish tests that I took before Spring Break. The breakdown is something like this: Math, 98. Computer Engineering, 97. And the Sociology test (you remember, the one I would have been absolutely thrilled to get an 80 on), ... also a 97. Never saw that one coming, and I was totally floored when I got it back. I'm rather happy, though.
Relatedly, I took my Electrical Engineering test today and thought it was a breeze. I was done in 20 minutes.
The Daily keeps coming at me... But the Daily Challenge site is coming along nicely. Half an hour a night, and it looks professional. Pretty slick. Only about three more projects this semester, then I'm done!
Still haven't done next semester's schedule... Been too busy doing data entry for the Mystery Section™. For those keeping score at home, I'm now at 31 entries... I started the night at 20. I figure I'll release it when I get 50. Have any guesses what it'll be?
I guess that's it, since it's 3:30. Thankfully, my 9:30 class is cancelled tomorrow.
March 31, 2003 - Pretty tame lately Things have been pretty tame around here lately, I guess. My parents came out for the weekend (hence the lack of updating, or at least the excuse I'm using), and it was good to see them. The first leisurely-type weekend I've had in awhile. Not a lot of sleep, but that's getting to be fairly standard.
Classes are progressing. I'm about ready for this semester to be over. I actively dislike two of my classes right now, and I'm not thrilled about any of the other three, either.
The Daily Challenge is over and done with, so that's one less thing to be doing. Look for a new project on Friday, though!
You may have noticed that I added a current count of the Iraqi civilian death toll underneath the navigation on the left. Be sure to check out that site; it has lots of information. Just my little protest against the "war" and the media's one-sided coverage of it.
Did about 90 more minutes of work on the Mystery Section™ tonight... It's progressing!
|
